Spencer photo not likely a cougar but experts can't say for sure

SPENCER — Experts at Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife spent a lot of time looking at the photograph: a blurry image of something cat-like in a driveway in Central Massachusetts.

A staff photographer used his skills to "play with" the photo, clearing it up some, but in the end it was one of the rare cases in which the animal could not be identified.

"My impression was that this animal is too small (to be a cougar)," said Thomas French, assistant director for Fisheries & Wildlife. "More likely it's something more common, because of probability."

Still, there are those who believe the animal in the photograph — which for a time showed up on the ctmountainlion.org website — may have been of an elusive mountain lion.

"We can't say if it's a bobcat or if it's a mountain lion, but if it's a mountain lion, we haven't heard the last of it. It may be one," said Raymond Weber of Springfield, who runs the website and grew up in Western Massachusetts with family members who did wildlife research.

Mr. Weber said he saw a cougar when he was a child and never forgot the look of the big cat, but, like Mr. French, he admits that without a good, clear picture, there's little proof to back up the stories of sightings.

Experts he works with went back to the site and photographed a traffic cone as a point of reference to try to determine the size of the animal and he believes the size is right for the creature to be as big as a mountain lion. But aside from that, there are few clues as to what it could be.

If the cougars are here, and there's been DNA testing of scat that proves they have been in the past, it won't be long before a conclusive photograph surfaces.

"There are so many trail cameras now that we're seeing lots of photographs," Mr. French said. "The cameras are so affordable and the pictures are good. I'm really glad we're getting more photos."

So good, in fact, that a New Braintree resident using one caught several crystal clear images of a bobcat. Local police posted the pictures on their Facebook page and more than 2,000 people viewed them. The police are now hoping to obtain such a camera to use in investigations, they wrote on the Facebook wall.

In Hardwick, police used a trail camera hoping to capture an image of a bear after an unusual recent attack in which a bear is believed to have killed a large sheep.

Cougars, if they are seen in Massachusetts, are most likely passing through, Mr. French said. There doesn't seem to be any evidence that any have been making the area home, though the abundant deer population would be one thing to draw them.

In 2011 a cougar was killed on a highway in Greenwich, Conn., and Mr. French said some research shows that cougar may have been in the area of the Quabbin Reservoir before it was killed. The cougar had traveled from South Dakota to Connecticut, researchers believe.

Researchers use scat, hair samples and tracks to determine if a cougar was in an area, but there is no substitute for a good picture, Mr. French said.

While most of the photographs turned in by folks claiming to have captured the image of a cougar are deemed to be instead of bobcats, others have shown foxes, coyotes and even house cats.

"What is it they say, the worst witness is an eyewitness?" Mr. French said. "People will see a 10-pound house cat and call us insisting it's a 100-pound mountain lion."

He said the state gets plenty of rattlesnake calls every summer, and investigations usually reveal the snakes are milk snakes, even though there are some species of rattlesnakes in Massachusetts.

Still, he understands the almost "romantic kind of wishful thinking" from those who want to see a cougar, and with their population moving as far as Minnesota, Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan, he believes it could happen. Folks here are anxious to be the first to report a sighting, with more calls about cougars than bobcats, which researchers know live and breed in our area.

For those who do see wildlife they want identified, Mr. French has advice. Without getting too close or endangering yourself, take a picture — in fact, take several and shoot video, too. It was a grainy video that helped scientists determine a bobcat was living in Falmouth on Cape Cod. It was the first confirmation of one in that area.

Wildlife photographers should also try to include objects in the photo that can later be used to help determine the animal's size — a car, a fence post or a stonewall that can be measured are helpful.

Mr. Weber said he and other researchers always like to see a clear shot of the animal's tail. The striking difference between a bobcat and a cougar is the cougar's long tail. He advised that trying to have a steady hand, especially when using a cellphone camera, is best.

Mr. French said he would be "delighted" to see a good photograph documenting a cougar in Massachusetts and he laughs when he hears conspiracy theorists credit the state with covering up the existence of the big cats here.

"We're not that good," he said with a laugh.

Contact Kim Ring at kring@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @kimmring.